The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that skill games — arcade-like gaming machines that have proliferated by enticing customers with the chance to win cash — are illegal under state gambling laws.
The court stayed its June 15 decision for 120 days, allowing time for the state Legislature to take action on bills that would legalize the games. Lawmakers are expected to adopt measures to tax the games and bring them under stricter oversight.
The ruling comes weeks after The Trace reported that stores hosting the machines had endured robberies and shootings committed by assailants seeking the cash kept on hand to pay winners. In 2020, a robber shot and killed a Hazleton store clerk before fleeing with $14,000 in skill-games money. Another clerk was shot in Philadelphia in 2024 by two robbers who had been playing the machines at a mini-market…